Welcome to the May 2014 Birth Club! This is a place for parents from all over the country, and maybe even the world, who are due in this month to gather and discuss all topics related to their pregnancies, births, babies, and more! Our community is a place of personal free expression, where we value an honest and supportive exchange of ideas and experiences.

Whether you are a first-timer or a veteran mommy, please take a minute to read through this message where you will find some helpful links and be able to brush up on some of BabyCenter's basic guidelines.

First off, let’s introduce our Group Owners! We are volunteers elected to help uphold the guidelines of BBC and ensure the birth board is running smoothly. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to message any one of us:

Heynonny
Ruthabega
MomaBaird

Community Guidelines : These are the guidelines you agreed to when you created your account. Give them a look and be sure your participation in all areas of our site conform before posting. http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-guidelines

Important Information:

Personal Attacks:
Not everyone on this board will agree, so please keep in mind that being rude or snarky is not a personal attack. You can find examples of personal attacks (“grow up”, “keep your legs shut”, ‘I feel sorry for your kids”), name-calling, and hate speech ("retard", "Nazi”, etc) listed in the community guidelines. The use of these and other derogatory words (“bigot”, “homophobe”, etc) is not allowed. Personal attacks in the form of memes are also not allowed. Note: These are just a few examples of what we consider PAs. You will be PANed if we feel, based on BabyCenter’s guidelines, your post contains one. (For more info on Personal Attacks and Hate Speech, please see: http://www.babycenter.com/community-guidelines-hate-personal-attack)

Swearing in the body of a thread is not a violation. Swearing in a THREAD TITLE is a violation and this includes replacing letters with symbols (ex: $hi%, f&C#, B*!ch, etc). If you post a title violating this rule, you will be PANed by a Group Owner and asked to edit it, and/or your thread may be closed.

Sometimes there will be threads that you think may be fake or started by a "troll". Do not call this person out as a troll, "bridge dweller", “t-word”, or any other code word that might be created. Follow DER: “Don't engage, report”. In this same vein, “witch-hunts” are also prohibited on the board. If you suspect a member is responsible for multiple accounts, dramatic threads, or is just not who they say they are, instead of posting about it, please report the profile to the BBC moderators for investigation. Investigating on your own and sharing publicly may result in a violation for you.

"Vote for me" posts are not allowed here. You can post them in the Vote for Me group. You may also add a link to your signature. Requests for money or other assistance are also violations, but may be shared on the Good Causes board.

If you would like to advertise another BabyCenter group on the May 2014 Birth Board, please message one of the group owners to request permission and explain what your group is about. Failure to do so may result in your thread being closed and/or deleted. Once given permission, you are allowed ONE THREAD to promote your group, and can bump it occasionally. After that, the only other advertising you may do is if it is mentioned in your signature. Any other advertising on separate threads will be deleted, because it will be considered spam.

Also, please note: advertising a Facebook group on the board is a privacy violation and your thread will be deleted.

"Spin-off" posts of closed threads or spin-off posts created to start drama are a disruption to the community and will be closed and/or deleted immediately.

If you are posting about a topic that may be stressful to the other mothers (i.e, miscarriage, stillborns, death, etc.) please be courteous and add "Warning" or "Trigger" to your thread’s title.

If you see violations of the community guidelines, please use the "Report this" link found on every post instead of calling the member out. When you report, you can choose to report it to the community, the group owners, or both. We do not see reports sent to the community. If you have something that needs to be handled quickly, please report it to the group owners as they can take the fastest action. Please note: group owners cannot ban members and are not responsible for threads or comments flagged for abuse. These are examples of two situations handled exclusively by BBC moderators.

If you wish to communicate with another member privately, you can use the "Pass a note" (PAN) link. You cannot share PANs publicly. This includes using direct verbiage, summarizing, screenshots, or stating who sent a PAN. If you are personally attacked or spammed in a PAN, please report it. Every PAN has a "Report this" link at the top right corner of the inbox. These reports are not seen by the Group Owners, just the community moderators. Please take note of your inbox--if there is a problem with your post or thread, the group owners may give you an opportunity to edit it before any corrective action is taken.

You will not be able to delete a thread you have created once other members have commented on it; you will only have the ability to edit the text within your post. Please take a second and ask yourself if you can handle the responses before you hit “submit”. Will you be able to exercise DER (“Don't engage, report”), or make use of the Ignore User button? The only threads/posts that may be deleted are those that violate serious BBC guidelines. Also keep in mind, you cannot order someone to "not post" or "leave your thread". This is considered limiting participation and is a violation.

Finally, please note that we have a zero-tolerance policy for cross-board drama. Threads created in May 2014 for the sole purpose of disrupting the community will be deleted in accordance with BBC community guidelines. If you suspect cross-board drama here or on another board, please do not engage in the drama, but instead report it to the group owners and community immediately.

If you have an issue with a decision made by a group owner or BabyCenter moderator, please do not start a thread about it. These usually end up being privacy violations and may be locked or deleted. It is best to email the community at community@babycenter.com or PAN a group owner directly.

Your growing child

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Because of separation anxiety, this can be a tough time to be away from your baby for any length of time. But it may also be hard to travel with your baby right now. He's become used to his surroundings and familiar faces, and he likes predictability. Read More

Your 9-month-old: Week 3

The torrent of words your baby has been hearing since birth is beginning to work its magic, although his understanding of words far outpaces his ability to use them. His babbling has turned to jabber and is probably... Read More

Your 9-month-old: Week 4

Your baby's personality is really emerging now. She may be very social, granting broad smiles to everyone she meets, or a little more shy, hiding her face when well-meaning strangers try to engage her. Read More

Your 10-month-old: Week 1

Your baby is just beginning to understand many simple words and phrases, so it's more important than ever to keep talking to him. Give your chatterbox a head start on good speech patterns by repeating his words back to him using adult language. Read More